This โendearing and honestโ (School Library Journal) romance about love across cultures follows a Black girl and Brown boy who find themselvesโand each otherโwhile pursuing their passions the summer before college.
Dejaโs got a plan. The first in her large family to go to college, she wants to study chemistry and sell natural skin care products, like the ones she already creates from plants grown on her familyโs North Carolina farm. It all starts with the Onward Bound summer program at the University of Maryland, the summer before school officially starts.
Rajaโs got a dream. His traditional Nepali parents want him to study engineering and settle down in an arranged marriage, but his passion is art, and he wants to open his own tattoo parlor one day. In the meantime, heโs apprenticing at a tattoo shop in College Park, Maryland.
When Deja walks into the shop where Rajaโs working, they both start crushing hardโover the course of the summer, they fall more and more deeply for one another. But the closer they get and the more their lives entwine, the more they find that dating someone who doesnโt match your parentsโ expectations is harder than they ever imagined.
Can they bridge the divide between the vision their families have for their futures and the livesโand loveโthat are starting to feel like destiny?